New Tank Build - 120G

This is a discussion on New Tank Build - 120G within the Beginner Freshwater Aquarium forums, part of the Freshwater Fish and Aquariums category; -->
Hello all,
I'm pretty new to this forum. Have been surfing through this community for months now, but this is really my first 'real' ...

Hello all,
I'm pretty new to this forum. Have been surfing through this community for months now, but this is really my first 'real' post.
A while ago I managed to convince my mother-in-law (!) to keep a tank (wonder of all wonders, I know!). The point was to house some of my beautiful fancy goldfish in a large enough aquarium. I don't have the space to have a large aquarium. I was practically duped by the LFS into buying so many fish for my 40G (6 fancy goldfish!). A while later I realised (from reading through various forums) that I had practically imprisoned them! So as a stop gap measure I really pumped up my filtration, water changes and also sent in some air-lines for bubbles. I have not had any real troubles. the fish seem healthy & active. And in the meanwhile, I conjured up the magic of convincing my MIL.
Now I plan to build a 120G tank for these fellows. Its gonna be 48"x24"x24". I'm hoping this will be good enough size for them.
I've kinda narrowed down on the decor for the tank too. It's gonna be a bed of inert sand gravel with some lovely round river rocks that I found. I'm also gonna put in a piece of driftwood. i'm also planning to plant it some. Just some hardy anubias & java fern ( I really love a planted tank!). I do have a couple of anubias in my present 40G and the fish don't seem to eat them. for the plants, I'm also gonna have a island of plant substrate (not decided on which one; I'd like something brown to go with the rest of the stuff)

I don't wanna make this post too long, so I'll keep the other stuff for the next post. But lemme know what you think.

FILTRATION
There's going to be a sump with all the mech filters, bio filters and anything that needs to be there. this serves two purposes for my MIL. She wouldn't have to put her hand into the main tank much and also for a clean look to the main tank.
I'm powering it with a 3000L/H (660G, I think) pump for the return. reducing for head loss, I think it should give me about 5x to 6x cycling per hour.
I will also be adding a canister filter of about 1200L/H (300G?). Not decided what brand/model.
as an add on, and I believe to keep the system aerobic, I'm gonna put an UG filter in there. Just so there is some extra filtration.

Am I doing the right thing? is this going to be enough?

OVERFLOW
wow! this is where it all got interesting!
I have done a fair bit of reading/browsing for various overflow systems and noise reduction... Durso, Stockman, Beananimal etc.
It looks to me that the 'beananimal' system works really well. and I'm tempted to use it here.

So to go with this system, I'm gonna have a overflow box that runs the entire length of the tank with the weir, of course.
Then there's going to be three holes to the back of the tank with the siphon, secondary & safety lines.

MY QUESTION: what diameter pipes should I use for this system? It will be returning 550-600GPH... I'm thinking 1" should do fine... but not sure. HELP!
ALSO: can I use a glass lily pipe to return the water to the main? what I mean is will the glass pipe take that amount of force or will it just snap and make a water fountain in my MIL's living room?!?!?!?!
The lily pipe is just for aesthetics, and the idea WILL be dropped if any of you suggest imminent danger.

FILTRATION
There's going to be a sump with all the mech filters, bio filters and anything that needs to be there. this serves two purposes for my MIL. She wouldn't have to put her hand into the main tank much and also for a clean look to the main tank.
I'm powering it with a 3000L/H (660G, I think) pump for the return. reducing for head loss, I think it should give me about 5x to 6x cycling per hour.
I will also be adding a canister filter of about 1200L/H (300G?). Not decided what brand/model.
as an add on, and I believe to keep the system aerobic, I'm gonna put an UG filter in there. Just so there is some extra filtration.

Am I doing the right thing? is this going to be enough?

OVERFLOW
wow! this is where it all got interesting!
I have done a fair bit of reading/browsing for various overflow systems and noise reduction... Durso, Stockman, Beananimal etc.
It looks to me that the 'beananimal' system works really well. and I'm tempted to use it here.

So to go with this system, I'm gonna have a overflow box that runs the entire length of the tank with the weir, of course.
Then there's going to be three holes to the back of the tank with the siphon, secondary & safety lines.

MY QUESTION: what diameter pipes should I use for this system? It will be returning 550-600GPH... I'm thinking 1" should do fine... but not sure. HELP!
ALSO: can I use a glass lily pipe to return the water to the main? what I mean is will the glass pipe take that amount of force or will it just snap and make a water fountain in my MIL's living room?!?!?!?!
The lily pipe is just for aesthetics, and the idea WILL be dropped if any of you suggest imminent danger.

IMO that's overkill on the filtration. A canister filter may be all you need. An overflow must be for a saltwater tank.

I'm not sure if its overkill... Goldfish can get very dirty! Loads of poop!!!
I've read in many places about 10x filtration, especially for such fish. So I'm actually doing a bit less, but I'm counting on the UGF to take care of the rest.
Also, a sump gives me that much more water in the system. I'm doing a 29G sump with a 6G buffer for emergencies, and my overflow will hold about 3G to drain after a power outage. seems like my flooding problems are taken care of

You are primarily dealing with goldfish which is not something I have any amount of practical experience with, so I will leave it for one of our several goldfish experts to answer your specifics. I can say that you are correct in wanting more filtration for these fish than one would need for most of our tropicals. But the knowledgeable folks will probably be along soon.

Hi and welcome. First off let me say I greatly admire your dedication to providing your goldfish with the best home you can. Not many people would do that.

I can't really speak to the mechanical specifics, but I can say a sump is a great idea for a goldfish tank. If I could I would add one to my goldfish tank. They add volume as well as provide a place for fast-growing plants (if you want) or algae to help eat up nitrates.

As for the plants, I think you've made a great choice. I had anubias with my goldfish for years. I currently have two large amazon swords, but they require root fertilizers and higher light.

Your hardscape looks really nice, too. Although if you're going to do sand, I wouldn't do an undergravel filter. The sand particles will fall into the UGF and clog it. Gravel is best with UGF's but it's not the best with goldfish because they can and do swallow the gravel.

Also I'd love to see pictures of your beautiful goldfish. Six fully-grown goldfish will be a large and beautiful sight!

I'm not sure if its overkill... Goldfish can get very dirty! Loads of poop!!!
I've read in many places about 10x filtration, especially for such fish. So I'm actually doing a bit less, but I'm counting on the UGF to take care of the rest.
Also, a sump gives me that much more water in the system. I'm doing a 29G sump with a 6G buffer for emergencies, and my overflow will hold about 3G to drain after a power outage. seems like my flooding problems are taken care of

Byron & Izzy,
Thanks for the warm welcome.
Thanks also for encouraging words.
Izzy: you are right about the sand & UGF thing... Didn't cross my mind. What if I put a small layer of gravel on the UGF plates and then top it off with sand? will that work? I'm not using very fine sand its gonna be coarse sand, maybe 2 to 3 mm. does that make any difference?

Byron: would you be able to help me with the mech here? I want to know what size pipes to use for the overflow. It's going to carry 600GPH. I'm thinking 1".

Byron, I really like your quote about aquarist being a chemist, botanist & vet...
May I add... you also need to be a plumber, carpenter... and be way too good at talking to your wife (I guess they don't have a professional name for that) LOL

Did I mention to you guys that this is going to be a DIY build? atleast, as much as I can DI myself...